


Continuing Professional Development

by BromeliadDreams



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Ensemble Cast, Gen, Spooky Bureaucracy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 11:19:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19272214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BromeliadDreams/pseuds/BromeliadDreams
Summary: The Archives staff go to a conference.





	Continuing Professional Development

**Author's Note:**

> This is an extremely self-indulgent fic because I think the idea of the Archives staff interacting with normal archivists is hilarious. The setting is somewhat vague, but in my head it takes place shortly after MAG106, so potential spoilers up to there.

Elias has always been very keen on the continuing professional development of his staff. It came up a lot in Jon’s interview for the role of Head Archivist – just about every time Jon expressed reservations about his qualifications for the job, in fact. Elias had just stared into the middle distance and intoned, “I like to give my employees room to grow into the role.” When he’d got back from the interview, Jon had found a leaflet on his desk about a distance-learning MA in ‘Archive Administration’ at Aberystwyth.

In retrospect, it should probably have made him just a little bit suspicious. But at the time, it felt like anyone with a vague knowledge of the alphabet could make _some_ improvement on the archives, what with the state Gertrude had left them in, and Jon had just accepted it. He’d even managed to take a couple of the course modules, before it became clear that the job requirements for Archivist-with-a-capital-A were not the sort that needed him to take out a postgraduate loan. Sometimes Jon reflects wryly on how he’d write those ‘collection care’ essays now. How _do_ you cite, ‘The knowledge just appeared in my head, courtesy of my omniscient patron,’ in Chicago?

Anyway. Elias is very insistent that the Magnus Institute maintain its standing in the academic world, tidal waves of worms and murder accusations notwithstanding, which means researchers are expected to attend conferences on folkloristics, the sociology of the paranormal, etc, etc, and the library and archive staff are expected to attend – well, as far as Jon can tell, anything that’ll get them out of Elias’ hair at a convenient time. This week, they’ve been packed off to Manchester for something on ‘The Ethical Archive: Collections Management and the Community in the 21st Century’. They’re all trying not to think too hard about what Elias might be up to in their absence. Basira had tried to stay behind to ‘catch up on some reading’ but found herself _persuaded_ out of it. Melanie—Jon had expected Melanie to put up more of a fuss about such a transparent ploy to get them all out of the Institute, but she’s here too. Admittedly not paying any attention to the talks, but he can’t really blame her for that.

It’s not Jon’s idea of a good time either. He’s not completely heartless, whatever some people might think, and there are only so many presentations he can take about small community archives at imminent risk of losing their funding before it begins to get to him.

It’s also harder than he wants to admit, being away from the Institute, away from the _statements_. He’s brought one with him at Elias’ insistence, _just in case_ (like a chocolate bar for his spooky blood-sugar, as Basira had pointed out), but reading it would feel like giving in in some way. He grits his teeth and ignores the way he always seems to pull that folder out of his bag along with his notebook in every session.

Martin, somewhat surprisingly, is in his element. He’s giving a paper in the next session about the ethical implications of collecting what are essentially records of people’s most traumatic experiences. Jon is willing to bet neither Jonah Magnus nor Elias Bouchard have ever considered their archives from such a compassionate standpoint.

“But that’s the point!” Martin exclaims when Jon raises this in the coffee break. “So many of our historic collections only exist because some rich ars— uh, person wanted to build a shrine to how rich and clever they were, but we can do _better_ than that! We’ve got a duty to the people who come and tell us stuff to— to at least treat them with respect, you know? To see them as people, not just, I don’t know, case numbers.”

Jon, keenly aware of having done precisely the opposite of that in his early days in the archives, can only nod.

Martin’s paper goes down a storm. He’s a good presenter, Jon realises with a slight shock. Martin-in-the-archives is hesitant, prone to stammering and trailing off mid-sentence. Martin-behind-a-lectern is, well, he’s just there to have a nice chat with _you personally_ , specific audience member, about this very interesting subject he’s been researching; he hopes you’ll find it as important as he does. And you do. Not for the first time, Jon wonders what Martin would be like if he’d had the chance to get that Master’s degree.

None of the rest of them are presenting – Jon had proposed a paper on the sustainability of digitisation, but he’s rather relieved it wasn’t accepted. After Martin’s session, another of the speakers comes up to them to tell them how sweet she thinks it is that they’ve all turned out to support their colleague. Melanie’s smile might be better described as a rictus.

In the next break, they almost lose Basira to the inevitable bookstall. When she catches up with them, she’s clutching _A Bibliography of the Occult_ and looking pleased with herself. “What?” she demands, in answer to their looks. “It was on offer, and the library copy’s _always_ out on loan.”

“You’re far too devoted to the cause,” Tim mutters.

Behind him, Martin lets out a little shriek of laughter. When they turn to look, he says, “Sorry, it’s not funny really. I just…” He’s pointing at a pin-badge on the stall next-door that reads _Metadata: the most dangerous weapon of the 21 st century_. “Can you imagine if _metadata_ was the most dangerous thing in the Archives?”

The man behind the stall gives them a sympathetic look. “You guys have the old Victorian arsenic problem too?”

“Something like that,” Martin agrees.

“Elias would love it,” Jon says. “He once told me filing was his most relaxing hobby.”

This is enough to dissuade Martin from buying the badge, although he does shoot it a covetous look as they leave.

“We should sell pin-badges,” Basira remarks. “They could say things like _The Magnus Institute: Putting the AAGH in Archives_.”

The last session of the day is a workshop on ‘Finding Your Feet in an Unstable Future’ which seems a little _too_ relevant to the archival team’s interests, until Tim points out that it’s about the job market. “Reckon we can skip that one,” he says. No one disagrees.

Instead they head out into the too-sticky August air. It’s a while yet til their train back to London, and so they just… walk. Tim and Melanie maintain a stony silence, but Martin and Basira are actually discussing one of the papers they heard, like normal people who work for a normal archive. It’s quite nice, actually. Jon can almost ignore the way his hand keeps slipping into his bag to touch the statement there, can almost stop wondering about _why_ Elias wants them all out of the Archives today.

In the distance, he can hear an ice cream van. He hopes its his imagination that makes it sound so much like a calliope.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone's curious, I reckon you'd cite it as
> 
> Beholding, telepathic message to Jonathan Sims, [date].
> 
> for Chicago footnote, and 'as was conveyed to my mind by the omniscient entity Beholding' or similar for in-text.
> 
> Also, re: 'the old Victorian arsenic thing', many substances used to preserve materials turn out to be not _great_ for the health of their conservators. I believe it's metal items that tend to have been treated with a substance containing arsenic, but I know the former go-to for paper conservation is also bad news. Unfortunately, there aren't always records of which objects have been treated and which haven't. In case it's not obvious, this is one case where you definitely should not Lick The Science.


End file.
